All's Fair When Love Is War
by Rusty Fingers
Summary: Grissom and Horatio find themselves working a case that forces them to admit exactly what they mean to each other. Set after the events of Dead Wrong. Warning: Slash
1. Chapter 1

Grissom and Horatio were tangled in the white linens of Grissom's bed. Grissom sat on his lovers hips, bent over and kissing his chest. Horatio ran his hands through Grissom's hair and groaned as Grissom licked his nipples, tickling his chest with his beard.

Grinning devilishly, Horatio slipped a hand between their hips causing his lover to cry out. Then they kissed deeply, moaning, Grissom bucking his hips before Horatio rolled him on to his back. Grissom gripped Horatio's face, their tongues entwining. He bit Horatio's lip before he sunk his teeth into Horatio's shoulder, muffling a high pitched moan.

Horatio kept his hand busy between their hips. He grunted as Grissom bit him and reached for the condom on the bedside table.

They had been rolling about in bed for almost an hour, giving, taking, pushing, holding out. This was only the second time they had seen one another since Horatio faked his death and almost cost them this. This relationship, this friendship, this partnership, this _everything_ that had come of one risked kiss.

"Ah, God Horatio," Grissom rasped as Horatio groaned throatily, their bodies meeting.

Horatio had come to learn a few things about his lover, the least of which was not that Grissom liked pain. Pain with boundaries? That was deeply enmeshed within Grissom's sexual psyche. Though Horatio had had more partners in his life, Grissom's had clearly been more instructive. Grissom was now in the process of playing teacher to Horatio and both men were clearly enjoying the process.

When they had worked out the last drops of their passion, Grissom lay on his back with Horatio pressed against his side. Horatio had his head propped up in his palm and was running his other hand over Grissom's chest. He exhaled deeply and Grissom flopped his head over on the pillow to look at him.

"I'm really glad you're here."

"I'm...glad I'm here too." What Horatio didn't say was how much he hated Ecklie for not letting Grissom take the whole night off and have a long weekend. He wasn't about to let someone like Ecklie ruin this perfect moment. Their eyes met before their lips did, sharing a kiss that was much less heated than their lovemaking had been. It was soft, lips and tongues caressing.

They showered and dressed in their tuxedos. Horatio had gotten them tickets to the Las Vegas Philharmonic. They would attend the show then Grissom would have to go in for his shortened night shift. Finishing tying his bowtie, Horatio looked over his shoulder into the bathroom and felt his heart skip a beat. He turned to take Grissom in, dressed in his suit, looking incredibly handsome.

Grissom was standing in front of the mirror, now fidgeting with his own tie and frowning. Coming to stand behind him, Horatio kept his eyes trained on Grissom's form, his heart moving to somewhere between his tongue and his chest. Grissom had an intensity that could match Horatio's but a sense of humour and relaxed demeanour that Horatio didn't have. It made Horatio forget a great deal of the tragedy that had followed him in his life when Grissom brought him coffee and the crossword in the morning, insisting they have a go at it before they got up.

Turning Grissom to face him, Horatio grasped the tails of the bowtie and began tying it. Grissom let his soft grey eyes rest on Horatio in thankfulness. His lover looked amazing in a tuxedo and Grissom smirked at his own inability to dress himself.

When Horatio finished tweaking the tie in to position he put his hands on Grissom's shoulders and ran them up to rest on either side of his neck. Their eyes met and Grissom noticed something in those blue pools.

"Everything all right?" Grissom left his lips parted just so after he said this and Horatio swallowed hard.

It was incredibly difficult for him to express himself at the best of times and telling Gil Grissom that he was in love with him was proving the most difficult of all. With most things, Horatio Caine did not hesitate but in this, he was lost.

"Uh, you look incredible." He covered.

Grissom narrowed his eyes somewhat. "Is that all?" He sensed that the compliment, though genuine, was made to fill the space of another thought. It had been months and he still could not put the Saris incident out of his mind. Somewhere in him, Grissom was afraid that Horatio was keeping something from him, even if it was only to protect him.

Horatio looked down before retuning his eyes to Grissom's and stroking his jaw. "I...it's just that you-"

A loud ring broke the moment and Grissom looked to his bedroom. He stepped out of the bathroom and found his cell phone. "Grissom."

Horatio stood in the doorway and leaned against it, watching his lover. Grissom's frown turned angry.

"There's no way that you can work this Conrad?" His voice became thin when he was upset, Horatio noticed. "I'm aware...fine. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

The snap of the cell phone closing caused Horatio to raise an eyebrow. "Problem?"

Grissom gave him an incredibly pained look. "Horatio...that was Ecklie."

"He wants you to work your full shift?" Horatio ventured.

"The mayor's son has just been found in a dumpster," he replied with his characteristic forthrightness.

Horatio looked at him slightly in surprise but all he could read in Grissom was agitation.

Grissom stepped towards him, shaking his head as he tried to find the words.

"Let's go," Horatio said simply.

Slightly taken aback, Grissom could still think of nothing to say.

Horatio nodded towards the door, "If you have to work tonight I'm...going with you. This time is precious."

Grissom paused before he stopped trying to find something appropriate to say and just pulled Horatio in for a fierce kiss. Their bodies close and tongues dancing, Horatio felt that pang again and felt ridiculous. Grissom, having been completely sidetracked from their bathroom conversation, smiled mid-kiss in spite of himself. Horatio didn't complicate, he rolled like the swell of the ocean and it was one of many things that Grissom loved about him.

The looks on the faces of the CSI's facing the doors of the break room caused those not facing them to look over their shoulders. Their supervisor and a man they recognized as the head of the Miami crime lab entered the room. Dressed like they were about to attend a ball. Their smiles died before they had a chance to form them, however, at the sight of Grissom's face. He was clearly upset.

"I'm assuming everyone's heard?"

Horatio stood in the doorway, behind Grissom. His and Sara's eyes met at the same moment. She gave him a brave, stolid look. He responded with a smile that could only be found in his eyes.

"Mayor Haglund's son." Catherine said, standing to face him. "I'm sorry Ecklie called you in."

Grissom shook his head impatiently. "Let's just get to work. Why is everyone here?"

Nick raised his eyebrows and looked at his fellow male CSI's to either side of him. "Uh, we were on assignment already when we got called back for this, Griss. Somethin' 'bout all hands on deck."

Grissom frowned again. "What were you working on?"

"Nick and I were workin' a rape out at Spring Valley," Warrick said.

"Sara and I had a home invasion-robbery," offered Greg.

"I was doing," Catherine stopped herself from saying 'your paperwork', "some catching up."

"Nick, Warrick, get back out to the Spring Valley rape. Keep in touch." Grissom looked at them and they quickly rose to their feet and headed towards the door.

"You got it Griss." Nick said quietly as they left, both of them nodding to Horatio.

"Catherine, Sara, Greg, get your kits-"

"Gil, where are Warrick and Nick going?" Ecklie said from the doorway, walking into the break room to face Grissom.

Grissom gave him a withering look. "To the rape in Spring Valley."

"I called them in from that to work Mayor Haglund's case." Ecklie said passive aggressively.

"Yes, Conrad and I sent them back out to it. The mayor's _son's_ death doesn't trump a rape. I'll have more than enough help without them." He indicated the rest of the room and Ecklie looked at Horatio.

"Who are you?"

Horatio didn't respond but instead levelled Ecklie with a gaze that made most people squirm. Unfortunately, Ecklie had an upsetting amount of self righteousness and was not phased.

"This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine, head of the Miami Crime Lab." Grissom said.

Ecklie looked both men over. "What's he doing here," he clarified impatiently.

"Visiting this fine city and, apparently, helping you catch a killer." Horatio said smoothly, looking askance at Ekclie.

Greg looked around nervously while Catherine smiled. Grissom relaxed somewhat.

"You're dealing with the paperwork," Ecklie said, staring at Grissom with displeasure. "The body's at the morgue already. I think you should come with me to see the mayor and someone should head to the crime scene."

The CSI's looked at him in confusion with the exception of Grissom, who looked stunned. "You had the body released?" Again, the thinness of his voice betrayed how agitated he was.

"I wasn't about to have Cody Haglund's body on the 11 o'clock news, Gil. Yeah, I had the body moved." Ecklie said, his own voice rising as he gestured.

"You've just compromised the entire investigation, Conrad!" Grissom stepped to within inches of Ecklie's face as he spoke.

"I know how to do my job." Ecklie replied quietly, threateningly.

"Yeah, you know how to be a first rate Assistant Director, don't you." He turned away and left the room, heading to his office.

Horatio followed immediately, not wishing to have to share further words with Ecklie. Catherine, Sara and Greg picked up their respective kits and filed out of the room, avoiding looking at Ecklie.

Grissom stood next to his desk, his hands on the silver evidence collection kit which sat atop it. He was breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down when a soft knock came on the door. Grissom looked up as it opened to see Horatio and his team standing there.

"Where do you want us, Grissom?" Sara asked, standing between Horatio and Greg. She looked calm and confident and it hadn't yet dawned on Grissom what Horatio being there might mean for her.

He looked them over and was grateful. After one last deep breath, he moved to stand in front of them, taking his kit with him.

"Greg, go see Robbins and process the body. Sara, Catherine," He looked at each of them and paused when his eyes fell on Horatio, "Horatio. Go to the crime scene. Look at everything and keep in mind it's been tampered with." Grissom handed his kit to Horatio, who made sure their hands contacted liberally as he grasped the handle.

Sara looked away and Greg didn't notice the look that passed between the two older men. Catherine didn't let Grissom see her smile, not that he would've noticed anyway.

"Thank you, sir." Horatio said, looking warmly at Grissom, who's eyes were full of conflict.

"I'll follow along as soon as I can," Grissom said finally and they moved towards the doors.

"Why is Caine really here?" Ecklie asked as they ascended the steps of Haglund's mansion-like house.

"I think he came for our first rate body farm," Grissom brushed him off, knocking on the door.

They were admitted by a distraught looking woman they both knew to be Mary Haglund, the boy's mother. They offered their condolences as she led them inside to a sitting room. Walter Haglund sat on the couch, surrounded by aids and going over paperwork spread liberally over the table. He looked up as his wife introduced the men.

"Conrad," he nodded to Ecklie. "You must be Gil Grissom."

Walter Haglund had less than 10 years on Grissom and Ecklie though his hair had fully silvered. Some people said he had a trustworthy face for a politician, a comment likely attributed to his good looks. He was tall and broad, not that you could tell that looking at him now. Grief was clearly written on his face.

"Mary, why don't you let me talk to these gentlemen, hey?" He cast a caring gaze to his wife and Grissom thought in that moment that he probably didn't cheat on her. Mary nodded and left, looking dazed.

Ecklie and Grissom sat down. "Mayor Haglund, what can you tell me about your son?" Grissom asked, cutting to the chase.

Walter sighed and ran a thick-fingered hand through his hair. "Cory was...he was a good student, played basketball, played the trumpet..."

"Has he been in any altercations recently?" Ecklie asked.

Walter shook his head. "Cory isn't a fighter. Everyone liked him, you know?"

"Did he have any close friends, a girlfriend perhaps?" Grissom asked in his gentle tone.

"Plenty of lady friends but, I don't think he was seeing anyone special."

"That's not true," came Mary Haglund's unsteady voice from the doorway. All three men looked up at her.

"Mary-" Walter started, eyes full of concern for her.

"A mother knows her son." She was staring at Grissom as she said this.

Grissom stood and walked to her. "Misses Haglund, would you show me to your son's bedroom?"

He grasped her elbow lightly as she nodded and led them away from the sitting room.

"Cory, he was never a secretive boy, never had a reason to be," Mary explained as they ascended the stairs. "But recently, he's been keeping something from us I just...I couldn't figure out what."

They entered a dark blue bedroom covered in the posters of basketball stars. Mary stayed by the door as Grissom walked in and looked about. He picked up a photo on the desk of Cory and some other kids, laughing in the sunshine by a pool.

"When did you first notice this change in Cory's behaviour?" He asked, opening the drawers of the desk and looking through them.

"About two months ago."

Grissom placed the photo on top of Cory's lap top and continued to look about. After he had gone through the room as much as he felt capable without his kit, he picked up the photo and the laptop and turned to Mary.

"Misses Haglund, where was Cory tonight?"

"He said he was going over to Sarah's to study but...that was a lie." She was looking at Grissom but cast her eyes down as she spoke the last few words.

Grissom looked at her, feeling there was nothing he could offer her, not yet anyway. "I need to get these back to the lab."

She nodded at him without meeting his eyes, saying nothing. She stood in the doorway looking into her sons bedroom as Grissom took the stairs down.

"Mr. Haglund, can you think of anyone in particular that may have a grudge against you?" Grissom asked from the doorway of the sitting room.

Ecklie and Walter looked up at him. "I'm the mayor of Las Vegas. Everyday I have to find a balance between the casinos, the tourists and the folks who just call this place home. I wouldn't say I'm popular."

Grissom nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said quietly before turning to leave.

The ride to the crime scene had a tense edge to it. Catherine rightly determined the cause to be Sara and felt for her. Sara had expressed a desire to meet Horatio while at the same time being terrified of it. She wasn't sure how she felt about the man but didn't want to be petty. Most of all, she didn't want to backslide when she had been doing so well emotionally.

And now there he sat, in the passenger seat next to Catherine.

"How's Lindsay doing?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know. They only heard of each other through Grissom but both felt like they knew one another reasonably well because of it.

"She's doing good."

"Your mother?"

"Oh, my mother is doing just fine." They both smiled at this.

"How's Kyle?"

"He's a teenager."

Catherine chuckled.

Sara watched him, her stomach twisting in knots. Grissom had told her a bit about Horatio but had actually been sensitive in that he didn't let the topic dominate their conversations.

They pulled into an alleyway, guided by the lights of police cruisers and flapping yellow tape. Horatio walked confidently next to Catherine, lifting the tape for her to step under. She turned to Sara. "Horatio and I are going to process in the tape, you take the rest of the alley. When we're done, we'll switch and get a second pair of eyes on both areas."

They fanned out.

Horatio put the kit on the ground and opened it. He smiled at the meticulously organized set up. Every jar and vial full, extra sets of gloves, ample stock of swabs and tape lifts. He retrieved a flash light from it before standing and looking around. It had been a while since he worked a crime scene at night and it slowed him somewhat. He took extra time as he looked over the dumpster, running his light over it slowly. He peered at a dark spot on the catch before swabbing it.

"Get something?" Catherine asked, looking over at him from the other side.

"Blood." Horatio held up the swab and looked at it in the light.

They both came to stand in front of the dumpster and shone their flash lights into it.

"You have jumpers?" Horatio asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Catherine raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. "I'm not sending you in there looking like that after your night got screwed up."

"That's very kind but...I am here to help." Horatio rumbled, putting his hands on his hips and looking down at her.

"That's fine," She said, walking towards the Denali, "but Grissom might loose it if he finds out you've been in the dumpster. Just spot me."

Horatio smiled and continued scanning the interior. When Catherine returned in a blue jump suit, he lifter her by the hips to sit on the edge of the dumpster. Catherine swung herself in, thankful that garbage day was recent enough that it wasn't that full. Horatio lit her way and took various items from her as she handed them up. Various pieces of trash had Cody Haglund's blood on them. One piece of paper caught Catherine's eye.

"Hey, shine that over here," she said, wading to the corner. She held up the paper and uncrumpled it in the light.

"What is that?" Horatio asked.

"It's a receipt from the Bellagio." Catherine said quietly, thinking to herself. When Horatio didn't respond, she continued. "Chips to cash, 20,000 dollars."

Horatio, keeping the light trained on Catherine, looked about the alleyway and thought about the drive there, the neighbourhoods they had passed. "Isn't...isn't that a bit out of place?"

Catherine shrugged. "This is Vegas, there's probably thousands of these receipts in dumpsters all around the city but...but it is a lot of money for this part of town." She handed it to Horatio who slipped it into an evidence bag.

She climbed out of the dumpster and they both looked into it, having the same thought.

"This isn't are primary crime scene," Horatio stated.

"Not by a long shot," Catherine agreed. "Sara?"

The brunette took one more photo before returning to the dumpster.

"Anything?" Catherine asked.

"Tread marks. We can run the measurements, see what we get," Sara said, doing her best not to let her gaze stray idly to Horatio.

"All right. Let's switch and do it one more time." Catherine said, stripping off her industrial rubber gloves.

Grissom opened the doors to autopsy and garnered a surprised look from Doc Robbins. "What can I do for you, ?" He asked wryly.

Grissom looked at the doctor squarely and without a smile. "I'm just here for the dead guy."

"Mmm," Doc Robbins murmured, turning towards the slab, "Not much of a man, he's 16 if he's a day."

Grissom stood next to Robbins and looked down at Cody Haglund's body. His eyes narrowed. He was just a boy. "Cause of death?"

Robbins pointed to wounds in the boys abdomen. "Exsanguination due to sharp force trauma." He spread the lips of the wounds apart slightly. "Whatever the weapon was, it left irregular marks of varying depth."

The wounds were round, Grissom noted as he leaned over the body and peered at them. "Greg?" He called. Greg turned from the counter he had been working at and looked at his supervisor. "Did you find anything probative?"

Placing one last item of clothing in a brown paper evidence bag, Greg walked over. "There was some trace in his stab wounds and," He lifted up a clear baggie, "I got his cell phone. I figure most kids nowadays have their entire lives on these things."

"Anything else?"

Greg looked back at the piles of evidence bags on the counter before returning Grissom's look. "I'll probably find more once I get his clothes to trace."

"But you noticed the personal nature of the attack."

Greg looked down at the body. "Uh..."

Grissom pointed to the wounds. "There was a lot of force here, a lot of violence. It denotes a lack of control...it's likely that the murder was personal."

"Right," Greg said, "stabbings are pretty personal anyway and the murderer...didn't stop after one or two thrusts."

"Exactly, not even with our victim here fighting back." Grissom held up the boys arms to expose defensive cuts. Greg looked at Grissom who looked at the young man over the rims of his glasses. "You gather the evidence, Greg, try putting it together as it comes to you."

Greg nodded eagerly before turning to leave, a box of evidence in his arms. He always expected Grissom to chew him out but his boss never did. Grissom's concern was making a stand up CSI out of Greg, never belittling him.

Grissom looked over the body a few more minutes before thanking Robbins and heading to A/V.

"Archie."

"Hey Grissom." Archie had Cory Haglund's laptop hooked up to his system and was going through its contents on his screen.

"Anything?" Grissom wore a frown of concentration as he was wont to do when working a case.

"You're looking really sharp." Archie didn't look away from the screen and so missed the sidelong glare Grissom threw his way.

"And the laptop?" He said, feigning patience.

"Well, it might help if I knew what I was looking for. There's the usual stuff. Pictures, videos, homework. Nothing that's popping out at me from his e-mails or IM. If someone had it in for him, they weren't letting him know on-line."

"Maybe they were letting him know via the tried and true method of phone conversation." Grissom postulated.

"That's Grissom code for 'look at his phone'." Archie smiled.

"Thank you Archie."

As he exited A/V, he saw Horatio, Catherine and Sara entering the building. He knew if they had found something they would have phoned him so he didn't ask if there was any case breakers, just fell in step as they walked to layout.

"What did you find at the crime scene?"

The three other CSI's flanked him.

"Tread marks from where somebody tore out of the alley. It could be related or not." Sara said.

"We check everything. Good eye Sara." Grissom opened the door to let them all file in.

"There was a lot of blood in the dumpster. We brought back almost everything from inside it so hopefully our killer nicked himself," Catherine added.

"There was blood on the dumpster that may...have come from someone catching their hand in the release mechanism." Horatio rumbled.

"That's a start," Grissom said, his mind becoming excited despite itself. The game was in play and almost all the pieces were known.

"It is a start. That was not our primary crime scene." Horatio added, looking askance at Grissom.

Grissom inhaled and thought this over. "There was nothing in the dumpster to indicate where our primary may be?"

"Oh, I found a receipt from the Bellagio for some pretty big bucks." Catherine said as they laid out evidence on the table, picking up the bag containing the receipt. "I thought I'd head over there and chat up their floor manager."

Grissom looked over their evidence, laid out like Halloween candy waiting to be sorted. He then looked at each of the CSI's.

"All right. Catherine, follow the receipt."

"I'll let you know what I find. I'm just...gonna go change my clothes." A small smile passed between her and Horatio.

"Sara, look into those tread marks. They might not give us anything right away but they could be useful later." He missed the exchange between Catherine and Horatio as he looked intently at Sara.

She couldn't be sure but she thought Grissom held her gaze a little longer than he normally would, wanting to see if she was perhaps upset. Sara kept her eyes level and her face composed.

"I'm on it," she said simply and left the room.

With her gone, Grissom found Horatio's eyes and felt his stomach twist at the red head's smile.

"That leaves...you and me," Horatio snapped on a pair of gloves, "to go through this."

Grissom sighed and put on his own gloves. Both men fell into their own worlds as they sifted through the bags, collected swabs and made notes. Horatio could feel how tense Grissom was, agitated about their forfeited symphony tickets, his run ins with Ecklie and, Horatio thought he could detect, the fact that his lover had been dragged into this investigation. He made a note to reassure Grissom later that there was nowhere else he would have rather been. Glancing up occasionally at Grissom as he worked the evidence, he smiled to himself.

They both stood with the sleeves of their nice dress shirts rolled up, their suit jackets hung up before they delved into the trash. They were right next to each other and, in Horatio's mind, the symphony might have added a bit to the moment, but not much.

Grissom groaned and moved his head from side to side, cracking his neck. When he looked up, Horatio was still examining a trash bag. Just outside, Nick was walking towards them.

"Any news?" He asked, poking his head through the door.

"Nah, Not yet. You?"

Nick shrugged. "I've got some stuff for DNA. Warrick's still interviewing people at the scene with Brass."

"Okay. I'm coming with you to DNA." Grissom turned and touched Horatio lightly on the arm. The other man didn't look up from the evidence in his hands. "You know where to find us when you're done?"

"I do," he said in his rough voice. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."

Grissom nodded and followed Nick out. They unloaded bags of swabs on Wendy who just shrugged at went straight to work.

Grissom poked his head into the room where Greg was going over Cody Haglund's clothing. "Greg?"

"I'm almost done." He too did not look up from the pants he was examining with the ALS.

"Great, have you found anything?" Grissom rubbed his beard.

"Well, if Cody Haglund wasn't dead, I'd say no but-"

"But what?" Sometimes Grissom tired of Greg's cryptic lead ins and he replied impatiently.

"There's semen on his jeans."

And Grissom understood. "It's probably his. Run it anyway, see if he had a partner."

"I am all over it," Greg said, swabbing. "And that's the last of it."

"Blood and Semen, that's all you found?" Grissom tried not to sound like he was pressuring.

"Some cream and maroon coloured fibers on his pants?" Greg tried.

"Good. Thank you Greg."

Grissom stood out in the hall for a moment, his mind working. He kept coming back to the same detail. They needed to find their primary crime scene, all of their evidence would be out of context until they did.

"Grissom!" Grissom looked up to see an irate Sheriff Atwater striding towards him.

"Where are we on this case?" The Sheriff placed his hands on his hips and leaned into Grissom's space.

Grissom looked at him half perplexed, half offended by his tone. He didn't notice Horatio exit layout but stay by the door, watching the scene before him. "We've just wrapped up evidence collection and have started processing."

Atwater looked at Grissom like he may be mentally impaired. "That's what your going to feed me?"

Grissom scowled at him. "That's what I've got."

"That's not good enough! I've got a press conference in an hour. The city is going to want to know what happened to the mayor's son." Atwater took a step towards Grissom, getting in his face, invading his personal space.

Horatio took a step towards them.

"I suggest you try 'the investigation is on-going', especially if you insist on having press conferences before you've given my team any time to work." Grissom shouted back.

"Do you take this for a joke?"

"Anything but, Sheriff Atwater. A boy is dead and I'm doing everything possible to find his killer and give his parents some piece of mind." Grissom said, his voice still strained but lower in volume.

"Really? How is it then that I hear two of your CSI's are back working a rape case when they were called in on this?"

Grissom pursed his lips and tried in vain to keep his lip from curling. Damn Conrad. "Because that girl deserves piece of mind too."

Atwater lowered his head, shaking it.

"If there was anything they could do, I would have kept Warrick and Nick on the case but there wasn't."

"One hour, Gil. Get me something or your done." Atwater attempted to stare Grissom down but he didn't budge, didn't rise to the bait. He turned away from Grissom and glared at Horatio questioningly as he walked past him.

Grissom waited until Atwater had left before looking at his watch and placing two fingers on his neck, feeling for a pulse. His breathing was unsteady.

Horatio walked up to him but Grissom didn't take his eyes from his watch. Eventually Horatio gently clasped Grissom's wrist, obscuring his watch and causing him to look up. "All right?" He rumbled softly.

The gentleness in Horatio's tone sidetracked Grissom from the argument. They shared a reassuring gaze before Horatio smiled lightly and released Grissom's wrist. "Hang in there."

Grissom nodded and fought down the urge to kiss him.

They went to the room where Sara sat in front of a computer screen, running tread patterns and measurements. She looked up at Grissom and smiled. "He doesn't know a thing about evidence, Griss, we'll stick it to him."

This garnered a small smile from her supervisor. "You heard that, huh?"

"The whole lab heard that." She said sympathetically.

Grissom inhaled deeply. "Any luck?"

She looked at Horatio standing behind Grissom's shoulder protectively before her eyes slipped back to the screen. "The wheel base is short and narrow, I'm thinking sports car, two-seater. I'll should know for sure within a half hour."

As Sara finished, Nick burst into the room. "Grissom, we've got somethin'."

Sara and Horatio turned to look at Nick as Grissom stepped closer to him. "About the rape?"

"About both our cases." Nick was excited, the pace of his breath faster than usual. "Semen from our rape matches the semen found on Cody Haglund's pants."

Grissom's jaw muscles worked beneath his beard as he processed this. "Is it a match to Cody Haglund?"

"Wendy just caught it by eye, she hasn't had a chance to run it against Cody's DNA yet."

"We've been working the same case," Sara said as a smile slowly formed on her face, "Atwater can chew on that."

Horatio smiled at her and Nick looked slightly confused but Grissom's mind was on the case. "You have to go back to your crime scene," he said urgently, "it could be our primary."

"We're on it," Nick said excitedly.

"Take Greg, he can fill you in on everything he found on Cory Haglund." Grissom said as he moved past Nick and towards A/V.

"Archie, pull up Cory's most frequently called numbers." Grissom said, his phone open and ready to hit send.

Archie clicked around on his screen until a call history appeared. After a search, two numbers came up again and again.

"Jim," Grissom said into the receiver, "I need you to pick up Sarah Broughton and bring her down, she should be cleared to leave the hospital by now...your rape case is related to Cody Haglund's murder...any chance Travis Beacher was at that party?"


	2. Chapter 2

Horatio and Sara watched Grissom and Nick leave, both becoming aware that they had been left behind at the same moment. He turned to look at her and Sara cursed herself when she looked away.

"Would you mind if I had a seat?" He asked, his voice husky but gentle.

Sara thought about saying 'yes' but reminded herself that wasn't how she wanted this to play out. "Go ahead." She cleared her throat and sipped her tea.

Pulling up a chair, Horatio sat and looked at her before looking at the screen that held her attention. They sat quietly for a minute.

"I gather by your suites that you had something fancier than a murder investigation planned for this evening." Sara finally said, succeeding in sounding casual.

Horatio chuckled. "The...Las Vegas Philharmonic."

"Do you enjoy the symphony?" Sara asked, putting emphasis on the last word. He looked like he could be the type.

"Um..." Horatio started, furrowing his brow, "I've never been."

"Ah. You were going for Grissom." Sara smiled.

"Well, I told him I'd try anything once as long as it didn't involve cheering for the Heat."

Sara frowned and looked at Horatio. "You don't cheer for your home town team?"

Horatio looked at her with soft, blue eyes. "Born and raised in New York."

"Mmm." Sara said, retuning her eyes to the search.

"Basketball fan?" Horatio ventured, wanting to keep some semblance of dialogue going back and forth.

"Hell no," Sara said, "big waste of time if you ask me. No offence," she added, looking quickly at Horatio.

"None taken. I can see how basketball would seem frivolous when you catch criminals for a living and save wildlife in your spare time." Horatio said casually.

This comment garnered a raised eyebrow from Sara. "You two talk about me."

Horatio leaned over, placing his elbows on his knees before looking sideways at her. "You're pretty important to him. You come up."

Sara's eyes widened slightly as her heart clenched. She had been wondering why Horatio was in here talking to her. He was looking for an opportunity. "You don't need to do this," she whispered.

"I'm terrible on the phone...but if you need anything, I'm here too." The look he gave her as he said this made Sara feel as if she were an open book to him. It also made her want to trust him which was uncanny.

Horatio stood and made to leave.

"I want to get to know you," Sara said softly, unsteadily.

He turned, a hand on the door. "Good. The feeling, Miss Sidle, is mutual."

They shared a look and he left. Sara sat, staring at tread patterns flashing by on the screen, perplexed by how Horatio had done what he had done. She felt exposed but not necessarily vulnerable, like a kind doctor had just looked under the dressing at a wound and told her he would take care of that in no time.

Horatio strode down the hall until he got to layout, wherein Grissom was leaning on the table, staring intently at something. Entering, he came to stand beside Grissom and found he was looking at a photo of Cody and two friends. On his left was a good looking girl with red hair, green eyes and faint freckles on her cheeks. To his right was a boy who was stockier than Cody, blonde haired and coming into his manhood quicker with wisps of hair on his chin.

"That's our rape victim," Grissom said, looking to Horatio.

"Do we know how they all fit together yet?" Horatio asked quietly, flipping open a file on the case.

"They're good friends, judging by the amount of phone traffic between them all."

"Could it be a coincidence that one gets raped... and the other murdered in the same night?"

Grissom looked at Horatio with a raised brow, the corner of his mouth quirked so his beard ruffled. "In a town where the odds always favour the house? I doubt it. Care to take a ride to Travis Beacher's house?"

Horatio rumbled his assent and they left layout.

The Beacher household was the same size as the Haglund house and Grissom guessed that Travis Beacher's father was defence attorney Richard Beacher. This was confirmed when the well known lawyer answered the door himself, looking displeased in his house coat.

"Gentlemen, do you have any idea of the time?"

Grissom cleared his throat. "Our apologies Mr. Beacher. We're with the Las Vegas Crime lab and we need to speak to your son." The CSI found himself wishing this was not Richard Beacher's house. The man was immediately suspicious.

"With regard to what?"

"May we come inside?" Horatio asked from over Grissom's shoulder.

"I'd prefer not. Tell me what this is about." Beacher crossed his arms.

"This concerns the rape of Sarah Broughton and the murder of Cody Haglund," Horatio cut in brusquely. It had the desired effect.

Richard Beacher's face became instantly stricken. "Sarah and Cody? Are you sure?"

"May we come in?" Grissom pressed.

He stepped aside and allowed the two men inside. Closing the door, he looked at Grissom and Horatio with shock. "What happened?"

"We can't go into details but there was a party this evening that Sarah was raped at. Cody Haglund was found in a dumpster in Meadows Village." Grissom said.

Beacher rubbed his face and shook his head. "Travis has been home all night. He wouldn't know anything about any of this...he's going to be devastated."

"Your son may be able to help us find who did this. Could we speak with him?" Horatio asked, looking askance at Beacher.

He thought about it for a moment before saying, "wait here. I'll wake him up."

In a minute, a trembling lipped Travis Beacher stood before them, his father's arm wrapped around his shoulder. He was so distraught that he couldn't think of anything.

He simply repeated over and over, "I should have been there."

"So Travis knew about the party but didn't attend," Grissom thought aloud in the Denali as they drove back to PD.

Horatio casually slipped his hand into Grissom's where it sat on the centre console. "You think he's telling the truth?"

Caught off guard momentarily, Grissom took a moment before he squeezed Horatio's hand. "I don't know. The evidence will tell us one way or another."

They found Jim waiting for them outside of interview one.

"That's Ingrid Broughton, Sarah's mother. She's not too keen on having her daughter here so make it quick, okay?"

Grissom and Horatio nodded before they stepped inside and introduced themselves.

Sarah eyed them sceptically. "Did you two just come from a wedding or something?"

Horatio smiled at her from where he stood near the one-way mirror but Grissom looked flustered for a moment before he sat down opposite Sarah and her mother.

"Uh, no." Grissom said. "We'd like to ask you about what happened tonight."

"You people have already asked her everything, twice," her mother said, her eyes red rimmed.

"Sometimes a person can recount an event differently from telling to telling," Grissom said gently, looking from Ingrid to Sarah. "You may remember something this time that you didn't talking to the officers at the scene."

"At 'the scene'," Sarah said with a frown. "I was raped Mr. Grissom. Call a spade a spade and spare me."

Both men narrowed their eyes slightly as he mother covered her mouth.

"Okay Sarah. Tell me what happened." Grissom said simply. He took the lead in all the questions from here.

"I went to the party, had been planning to for a week ever since Stephanie invited us."

"Us?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, Cody, Trav and me."

"Are you always invited to things as a threesome?"

"Duh. We're the three musketeers, the three stooges. We do everything together." She looked at Grissom like he was ridiculous. "Been like that ever since we were kids." Her mother nodded at this.

"Did all three of you go to the party?"

Sarah nodded, her eyes glazing over as she looked at the table. "We all went. We were having a good time too."

"Were the three of you together all night?"

"No, we like to split up, reconnect, talk, split up, you know, mingle. I lost track of Cody and Trav around nine."

"When were you attacked?"

"About an hour after that. I went upstairs to see if I could find them, went to a bedroom and got jumped." She didn't cry. Horatio felt the strength of this child and it amazed him.

"Do you remember anything specifically about your attacker,a smell or scar?"

Sarah thought about this question for a solid five minutes before shaking her head. "I was out of it after...you know. But, he did say he was sorry. Picture that, he's sorry."

"Thank you Sarah," Grissom said a bit sternly, not wanting her to feel patronized.

She just nodded and got up, helping her mother up as she went.

"Travis Beacher was lying to us," Grissom said after they had left.

His phone buzzed on his hip as Sara entered the room. Grissom took the call, motioning to Sara to speak with Horatio.

"Got a hit on that tread pattern and I'd say it's definitely linked to our murder." She directed this at Horatio without hesitation, opening the folder for him.

"What was the car?" Horatio asked huskily, looking at the report.

"Jaguar XK150," She said, a little smug.

Horatio raised his eyebrows, "A 1950's sportscar. That's pricey."

"Yeah, I checked online. In good condition, that's 100,000 dollars pricey. Better yet, there's only two registered in Vegas." She showed Horatio the file with the registration details and he smiled. "Nice work."

Sara grinned.

"Guess who that receipt from the Ballagio belongs to?" Grissom asked, standing to face them.

"Travis Beacher," Horatio rumbled.

"Fake I.D.." Grissom shook his head. "We had him."

"Let's go get him," Sarah said, "We've definitely got enough for a warrant for his DNA."

Horratio nodded at her and looked to Grissom as his phone rang again. Once more he motioned for Horatio and Sara to get ready as he took the call, making his way towards A/V.

Nick informed him that they had found the murder weapon at the scene of the rape, in the backyard. It was a broken bottle and there were prints.

"Good work Nick. Get those back here and run them, I need it done yesterday." Grissom flipped his phone shut and looked at Archie. "We're looking for anything that might tie this kid to a rape or a murder, something he did or said to make someone very angry."

"Ah," said Archie, "I'm already ahead of you. I found Cody Haglund's online journal."

Grissom frowned with distaste, "Why online?"

"Mom and dad will _never_ find it under your bed. Anyway, the entries In the last two months have him mentioning that he is in full blown puppy love and that he doesn't 'think that anyone will understand'. Does that mean anything?" Archie looked up from the screen to Grissom whose eyes were focused in the distance as he contemplated this.

"It could mean everything," he said as he left, leaving Archie to wonder after him.

"Something come up?" Horatio asked as he slipped on his suit jacket. They were joined by Brass as the four of them walked outside.

"Nick's got the weapon and Archie just found the motive."

"Cody falls in love with Sarah, doesn't feel he can tell her...or anyone for that matter. Feeling builds until he snaps, rapes her. Travis finds out and kills Cody." Sara mused from the back seat of the Denali as they buckled up. "Classic tale of tragic teenage love."

There were no lights on at the Beacher residence as the Denali, Jim's mustang and two cruisers pulled up outside. Jim and another officer went first towards the door, followed by Grissom, Horatio and Sara. It caught her off guard when she noticed that Horatio had his gun drawn, that he had slipped in out silently as they may their way carefully up the drive.

Jim looked over his shoulder and motioned the officers behind them to surround the house before pounding on the front door. "Las Vegas Police!"

It took a minute but eventually lights turned on upstairs and footsteps could be heard. Richard Beacher opened his door, about to give them a piece of his mind when Jim shoved a series of folded, blue papers into his chest and pushed past him. "Where's your son Mr. Beacher?"

"He's upstairs, he was sleeping-" Beacher began ranting.

Jim and the other officer moved towards the stairs, Grissom and company following. The sounds of an engine being revved and tires screeching from outside caused them all to look back.

Horatio took his foot off of the doorway and spun to see the backside of the Jaguar tearing down the driveway. Levelling his gun, he half closed one eye and sighted down on the tires, letting two shots rip through the quiet night air. The Jaguar jerked sharply to the side, slamming against the curb of the drive without going over into the flower beds.

Horatio walked towards the driver side door, gun still levelled, Jim and several officers flanking him. Opening the door, he saw Travis Beacher holding his hands up, lip bleeding.

"Nice work, John Wayne," Jim quipped as Horatio holstered his weapon.

Grissom and Horatio stood behind the one-way mirror, looking into the interrogation room where Jim sat motionless, staring at Travis and his father. The boy was in a Coyotes hoodie, cream and maroon coloured.

"Nice shot," Grissom said quietly, not taking his eyes from the glass.

"Nice work," Horatio replied in a soft, raspy tone.

A knock on the door produced Sara a second later, handing Grissom a file. She raised her eyebrows at him, "Uh...interesting."

Grissom narrowed his eyes at her before turning them to the file. He scanned it quickly, Horatio looking over his shoulder. His own brow raised in surprise and a look of understanding passed between him and Sara. Then he shook his head a little and she saw sadness in his eyes before he looked away.

Sighing, Grissom left the room and entered the door directly beside it, looking at Travis as he took a seat next to Jim. Travis' face, so distraught upon their first meeting, was now full of spite. He was a good actor.

"We know you raped Sarah Broughton," Grissom began, passing the DNA comparison to Richard Beacher.

"We know you killed Cody Haglund," he passed over photos of the Bellagio receipt, tire treads and broken bottle, "and dumped his body in Meadows Village, perhaps hoping it would look like he had been mugged."

Grissom sat for minute and scrutinized the boy but he wasn't quite a boy. There was a lot of anger in that young face.

"Yeah, I did it," Travis replied quietly, no remorse in his voice. His father looked sidelong at his son, there was definitely grief in his eyes.

Grissom leaned forward and put an elbow on the table as he withdrew a photo from the file and placed it on the table. "We know why you did it." His eyes were hard as he looked at Travis, disgusted.

Travis frowned as he looked at the photo, then back to Grissom. "What are you talking about?" His words were almost whispered, like he was afraid if he let them get too loud he wouldn't be able to catch them again, control them.

Grissom pointed to the outlined area on the jeans in the photo. "These are the pants Cody Haglund was wearing when he was murdered and this is your semen on them."

His eyes growing wide, Travis Beacher's jaw clenched and his breathing became irregular as a sheen of sweat broke out over his forehead.

His father looked at him, then to Grissom, then back. "Mr. Grissom, I don't...I don't understand."

"Your son and Cody Haglund have been friends for years, Mr. Beacher. Recently Cody thought he'd found the love of his life but that no one would understand. We thought he meant Sarah, but he didn't, did he Travis?" Grissom leaned back in his chair.

Travis was leaned over, trying to contain himself, his lip trembling as he rocked back and forth slightly. "Cody...Cody wanted to tell..._everyone_...but I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't...I'm not like that." He turned to his father with a sharp twitch of his shoulders. "It was just a few times, we were just...fooling around," he hollered.

"When Cody told you he wanted to tell someone, his mother perhaps, you panicked and stabbed him with a beer bottle." Grissom's lip twitched in disgust as he spoke the next sentence, "then you raped Sarah, someone you were familiar with...to prove your masculinity was still intact."

Richard Beacher was staring his son in the eyes, tears trickling down his face. "Cody and Sarah...that's what this was for?" He stood up and backed away from his son who looked after him, a pleading look in his eyes.

Jim signalled to a waiting officer as Grissom looked down at the table. He had seen and heard enough. He wasn't aware of Travis and his father leaving the room as his rights were read to him. He didn't hear the small words of comfort that Jim offered before he left, seeing a defeated look in his friend and wanting to help.

All he felt was a strong hand come to rest on his shoulder and grip it firmly. "Okay?"

When Grissom didn't respond right away, Horatio pulled the seat vacated by Jim close to his lover's side and waited for him to look up.

He kept his eyes on the table as he spoke, "those kids were 15 years old. Living and falling in love." He paused before taking a deep breath. "Travis Beacher was so afraid of being...different...that he would violate two of the most important relationships he had to hide it."

Horatio joined Grissom in looking at the table.

"Did you ever think that what we were doing...that it was..." Grissom tried, lips parted as he looked at Horatio.

"Gay?" Horatio let his eyes drift back up to Grissom's and saw the conflict in the granite grey that his eyes were when he got upset. Anger, frustration, uncertainty. He felt it too.

In the core of his being, Horatio knew that Grissom needed something right now, some sign that the world would make sense again and that they could wake up in it tomorrow and be okay. His stomach rebelling, heart in his throat, Horatio thought he'd try the one thing that kept him going whenever he'd stumbled over life lately. His sign.

"All I thought about...was your kiss and how much...I was falling in love with you." Horatio reached out and grasped Grissom's hand, as much to steady himself as to punctuate what he had just said.

Grissom blinked as he looked at Horatio and his jaw muscles quivered as they tried to decide whether to speak and what to say.

"Don't...leave me hanging." Horatio's words were shaky even as he tried to make light.

Grissom just shook his head and gripped Horatio's hand. "I new I was in love with you when you faked your death, I still can't believe you did that." Both men laughed a laugh that came from the nervous quivers in their stomachs. "It was only after I heard that you had been shot that I knew... and it was so unfair...to realise you love someone after they're gone." Grissom reached up and touched Horatio's cheek.

Desperately needing to relieve the emotional tension, Horatio said, "I didn't die...does this mean I'm off the hook?"

Leaning in to playfully nuzzle Horatio's cheek with some force, Grissom whispered to him, "don't push your luck."

Catherine opened the door first, giving Horatio and Grissom time to pull apart in surprise before the rest of the team spilled into the interrogation room.

She gave them both a killer smile. "You boys are all dressed up with no place to go."

"Amy Innocenzo is playing a show a club tonight, we can still catch the tail end of it." Nick said, a Texas grin on his face.

Eyes drifting casually to Grissom's, Horatio saw that he was not terribly interested. "What kind of music does she play?" He asked, eyes rising to the group of young CSI's.

"'Lotta rhythm, little bit a blues, I mean, she's not the symphony..." Warrick said from behind the group, shrugging off his last comment casually.

Grissom looked to his team, still full of smiling camaraderie and youth, and smiled in spite of himself.

He looked over to Horatio who shrugged, "you know I love the blues..."

The seven CSI's managed to squeeze up to the bar and order drinks. The club was the sort that attracted all types, it's ambiance casual with lighting that didn't offend the senses. It was clearly a place where people came to dance and groups of people were still moving to the music even though it was getting late, even by Vegas standards.

"I have surgery to keep my hearing just to have it stolen by this?" Grissom indicated the speakers thumping not five feet from their heads to Catherine.

She gave him a friendly fist to the arm, "shut up, she's great."

And she was. The singer wound down an upbeat R&B tune and began what was obviously a song to slow dance to. Taking a sip of the water in front of him, Grissom caused Catherine to look up as he pushed away from the bar. Horatio was having a somewhat heated conversation about basketball with Warrick and Nick when a hand was thrust towards him. All three men looked up to Grissom holding out his hand and looking fondly at Horatio, who, after a stunned moment, smiled and took it.

Sarah and Greg eventually looked over to see what had Warrick and Nick's mouths hanging open and Catherine smiling so genuinely. Their hands clasped firmly together, Grissom and Horatio strode to the middle of the dance floor. Grissom stopped them when he felt they had reached a good spot by turning to face his lover and slipping his other arm around Horatio's lower back, drawing their bodies together intimately. The hands that had been clasped together were drawn up to their chests to rest in the small space between them, the beating of their hearts felt beneath the thump of the bass. Horatio drew his other arm over Grissom's shoulder and leaned his forehead onto Grissom's.

Nick turned to his friend, a satisfied look on his face. When Warrick tore his eyes away from the men dancing on the floor he looked at Nick. "Come on. That doesn't count." He tried to argue.

Nick just shook his head and started laughing. "The deal was 'is Grissom seein' someone'. All right?" Nick laid his palms on his chest. "I bet good money that he _was_ and you didn't so...Cough. It. Up."

Warrick scrunched up his face in mock upset as he took out his wallet, withdrew four 20's and flicked them on to the bar. Laughing, Nick scooped them up and returned to watching his supervisor. No one said it, as they all stood with their backs to the bar and watched, but they looked in love as they moved gracefully around the dance floor.

Horatio was glad that Grissom was a good lead, it allowed him to get lost in those grey eyes without worrying about stepping on Grissom's toes. A laugh escaped him as he thought about how they must look, dress shirts rumpled with the sleeves rolled up, bow tie tails dangling from their necks.

Grissom's whole face brightened a bit when he heard Horatio laugh and he pulled him closer. "I love you," he mouthed, their eyes connected.

Horatio put his mouth to Grissom's ear and said, "I love you too," before they kissed, oblivious of all the attention they were receiving, lost in each other.


End file.
